Lausanne and surrounds to be more accurate. Lausanne is where my second cousin and her partner live and our base for a couple of days before we headed to their chalet in the nearby mountains.
Talk about being diametrically opposed to Cambodia! The temperature and humidity; neatness and tidiness opposed to chaos; european aesthetics; you get the picture.
Lausanne is a mediaeval town originally spread over three hills protected by walls of which there are still a few fragments. The Cathedral and town hall preside over the city from the top of the tallest hill. Of course by now the walls have been breached and the greater metropolis extends down to Lake Geneva with the French Alps as its backdrop. We were based in a great part of town close to a fondue restaurant which of course we sampled, along with some beautiful Swiss wine. It was great to wander around for a couple of days getting over our jetlag before heading off to Commeire, a traditional Swiss mountainside village.
Commeire is made up of maybe thirty dwellings so it’s really tiny. All the buildings are ‘raccards’ a vernacular building type formerly used as barns, with storage downstairs and living areas upstairs. The oldest of them have been around for over three hundred years. Most of them are dwellings only these days, inhabited by either people who live there permanently or used as weekenders. The size of the village being what it is, everyone knows everyone so we were invited to a neighbours place for a traditional Raclette meal with cheese of the same name, potatoes and cornichons and more wine..ahem.
After arriving on a beautiful spring day, the weather turned overnight so we departed the chalet for some thermal baths at Lavey-les-Bains. Quite surreal to be swimming in 30 degree water with 8 degree rain falling on your head, but great fun. The next day the rain had turned to snow, and had cleared enough for us to be able to go for a walk with snow shoes on which our hosts had at the Chalet. The snow covered hillsides were gorgeous and unlike anything we had seen in Australia. It was so quiet too, with the occassional ‘slush’ of some falling snow to interrupt the silence.
